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Daily Business Report-Sept. 19, 2014

San Diego County Jobless Rate Drops

Nonfarm employment in August was up by 3,500 jobs

over the month; and up by 34,200 jobs over the year

The unemployment rate in San Diego County was 6.2 percent in August, down from a revised 6.6 percent in July and below the year-ago estimate of 7.7 percent, the state Employment Development Department reported today. California’s jobless rate was 7.4 percent and the national rate was 6.3 percent for the same period.

Between July and August:

Total nonfarm employment increased from 1,343,700 to 1,347,200, a gain of 3,500 jobs. Agricultural employment remained unchanged over the month.

• Professional and business services reported the greatest month-over gain, adding 2,400 jobs. Professional, scientific, and technical services (up 1,600) accounted for roughly two-thirds of the employment growth in this sector. Administrative and support and waste services added 700 jobs, while management of companies and enterprises gained 100 jobs.

• Professional and business services recorded the greatest year-over gain, adding 8,400 jobs. Professional, scientific, and technical services (up 7,800) contributed to more than 90 percent of the job growth in this sector. Management of companies and enterprises added 1,000 jobs. Job losses in administrative and support and waste services (down 400) offset the overall employment growth in this industry.

• Eight other nonfarm sectors also added jobs over the year. The most notable job gains came from educational and health services (up 6,800); construction (up 6,800); and trade, transportation, and utilities (up 5,200).

Murphy Development to Build

Big Technology Park in Scripps Ranch

Murphy Development has purchased 31 acres in the Scripps Ranch Business Park from Intel Corporation with the intention of creating a large technology park for corporate headquarters and research and development facilities. Financial details were not disclosed.

“We plan to develop state-of-the-art buildings on this fully entitled campus property,” said Andy Irwin, senior vice president and director of marketing for Murphy Development. “Our goal is to complement the park-like landscape setting with sustainable buildings that will attract corporate, engineering and technology users, as well as benefit the surrounding community,” he said.

The central San Diego property includes five finished lots ranging from 4.6 to 8.2 acres and located on Scripps Ranch Boulevard, Meanley Drive and Hoyt Park Drive. The individual parcels, which are bordered by mature eucalyptus trees and landscape setbacks, offer expansive views that range from the Pacific coastline to the San Diego backcountry. The property is surrounded by numerous walking trails.

Murphy Development will rebrand the property the Scripps Ranch Technology Park, and plans to develop one to three-story corporate headquarters buildings and research and development facilities that conform to the zoning and entitlements in place for Scripps Ranch Business Park Phase III, home to Lockheed Martin, Paychex and CoreLogic, among others.

“The property is a treasure,” said Kaitlin Murphy, executive vice president of Murphy Development. “There is little available entitled land in central San Diego and few new buildings have been completed in the past five years.”

Navy’s Largest Unmanned Craft Flies Cross Country

The MQ-4C Triton

The Navy’s first MQ-4C aircraft built by Northrop Grumman Corp.’s division in Rancho Bernardo on Thursday completed a cross-country flight from California to Maryland. The aircraft flew 11 hours from the Northrop Grumman’s facility in Palmdale to Naval Air Station Patuxent River to start its next phase of testing, moving the program closer toward operational status.

During the flight, the aircraft was controlled from a ground station in Palmdale, which served as the forward operating base, and a Navy System Integration Lab at Patuxent River, which served as the main operating base.

“Triton is the Navy’s largest, most advanced unmanned maritime surveillance system to cross such a distance,” said Mike Mackey, Triton program director. “The successful flight was the result of a Navy/Northrop Grumman team effort, from finishing a major software package to managing equipment inspections.”

Over the next few weeks, two other Tritons, one of which is a demonstration aircraft owned by Northrop Grumman, will also fly to Patuxent River. Both will be used during system development and demonstration tests.

Triton is specifically designed for maritime missions of up to 24 hours. It can fly at altitudes higher than 10 miles, allowing for coverage of 1 million square nautical miles of ocean, in a single mission.

La Vida Del Mar Accreditation

La Vida Del Mar

SOLANA BEACH — La Vida Del Mar, an independent and assisted-living community owned and operated by Senior Resource Group, has earned the nation’s first accreditation in independent living from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF).

CARF accredits health and human services providers in an effort to promote and ensure the quality of care and services provided.

The official Independent Living Standards became effective in July and were applied during a recent CARF survey at La Vida Del Mar, located between Del Mar and Rancho Santa Fe.

More People in San Diego Fall Into Poverty

Census Data: No recovery from poverty in city despite economic growth

Poverty maintained a tight grip on San Diego in 2013, with the city’s poverty rate rising slightly to 15.8 percent of the population, despite local economic growth, according to the Center on Policy Initiatives.

By contrast, the U.S. Census Bureau announced two days ago that poverty had declined nationally to 14.5 percent in 2013.

A total of 209,045 San Diegans lived below the federal poverty level last year, including more than 64,000 children, or 21.9 percent of all children in the city.

Wages in many of the city’s largest industries remained flat three years after the recession ended, with the lowest earnings in the hotel and restaurant industry. Among city residents over age 16 living in poverty, 41 percent, or 62,656 people, were employed full or part-time.

“Too many of the jobs being created in San Diego are service sector jobs that pay poverty wages,” said Peter Brownell, research director of the Center on Policy Initiatives. “Middle-class jobs have not come back, and wages have stagnated.”

The local data released Thursday by the Census Bureau also shows the overall poverty rate for San Diego County rose slightly to 15.2 percent. Other cities within the county with higher poverty rates than San Diego i

CPA Firm Promotes Smothermon

Ashlynn Smothermon, has been promoted to accounting manager at local CPA firm RBTK LLP. Smothermon is in her sixth year with the firm after joining in 2008 as a senior staff accountant. Rising from her hiring position to accounting supervisor and now to accounting manager, Smothermon is responsible for implementing systems for collecting, analyzing, verifying, and reporting financial information for RBTK clients.

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Barcelona’s La Sagrada Familia

‘Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation’

One of the most iconic and enduring human structures ever built, Barcelona’s La Sagrada Familia is a unique and fascinating architectural project conceived by Antoni Gaudi in the late 19th century. More than 125 years later after construction began, the basilica still remains unfinished.

“Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation,” a film that will be shown at North Park’s Digital Gym Cinema, celebrates Gaudi’s vision and the continuing work of countless laborers, artisans, designers and architects as they strive to complete the colossal project while delving into the mysterious process of artistic creation.

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Voice Your Opinion

We Want Your Opinions on San Diego’s Big Issues
In the coming months, Probosky Research (one of California’s leading opinion research firms) will continue its partnership with SD METRO to survey San Diego residents about topics of interest to our readers. We’d like to throw open the door for suggestions for topics. What do you want to know? What do you think you know, but aren’t sure? What are you certain you know, but want to prove it beyond doubt? Ideally, we’d like to see questions that have to do with public policy.
Some areas may include Mayor Filner’s first 100 days job performance, should the city be responsible for economic growth and the creation of new jobs, how important are infrastructure improvements to our daily lives (streets and bridges, etc.), how important is water independence, how satisfied are residents with public transit or how do city residents value Balboa Park and other open spaces? Do you believe the City Council should revive the Plaza de Panama plan for Balboa Park?
You can email Probolsky Research directly with your ideas: info@probolskyresearch.com